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Rating: 
Summary: Companeros.
Review: "He hiked through the high desert," Jack Loeffler writes about his friend, Ed Abbey (1927-89), "inhaling the perfume of juniper, feeling the clean hot wind against his face. He watched the circling buzzards and wondered if he should surrender, lie down and die, to provide them with one good meal. Or hike down into the maze and disappear into the ghostly silence. Or relinquish himself to a magnificent rapid in Cataract Canyon. He was frightened by the sound of his own breathing in the vast emptiness where he must keep his own company or lose control" (p. 85). For more than twenty years, Loeffler and Abbey were best friends, and they guzzled beer, shared hundreds of campfires, and hiked thousands of desert miles together (p. 3). "We were companeros," Loeffler says in the Preface to his 285-page biographical memoir. "And as long as I continue to live, we shall be" (p. 10).Abbey encouraged us to "follow the truth no matter where it leads" (p. 4), and Loeffler does just that in drawing from Abbey's journals, FBI files, personal interviews, correspondence, and conversations he had with Abbey "while hiking, driving, river running, or just staring into campfires" (pp. 287-88), to bring his friend to life in these pages. Along the way, we find Abbey hitchhiking and hopping freight trains across America at age seventeen (pp. 18-20), falling in love repeatedly (he was married five times), attacking billboards at night (p. 38), studying in Scotland on a Fulbright scholarship (p. 39), working as a park ranger in the "bright sunlight of the American Southwest" (p. 79), down on his knees at Glen Canyon Dam, praying for an earthquake (p. 108), dancing naked and "clapping and howling" in the sunshine of Aztec Peak (p. 154), rallying for Earth First!, cussing red ants (p. 9), and trekking 110 miles through the Sonoran Desert "alone with his thoughts" (p. 162). Whereas the first four chapters of Loeffler's book covers much of the same biographical information contained in James Calahan's recent biography, ED ABBEY: A LIFE (2001), in Chapters 5 through 8, Loeffler introduces us to the friend he knew in Ed Abbey. In fact, Loeffler even describes digging Abbey's undisclosed desert grave in the book's final pages. "Every now and then, I visit Ed's grave and pour him a beer," Loeffler tells us (p. 4). This truly fascinating book will appeal to any Abbey fan. Personal, adventurous, and intimate, Loeffler's "portrait" offers new insights into the "heavy chemistry" of Abbey the loner, the wilderness anarchist, the desert rat, the gifted writer with an evolved mind, the husband, father and friend, and into the "man who would not be dominated by anyone" (p. 61). G. Merritt
Rating:
Summary: An Intimate Portrait of Abbey
Review: Adventures with Ed, by his longtime friend and fellow sabot, Jack Loeffler, offers an intimate look into the life of Edward Abbey that gets to the very bedrock of his existence of a writer and as a lover of the natural world. Although I have read and reread almost all of Abbey's work, this book allowed me to integrate and better understand the persona that Abbey constructed through his work and the sensitive, reticent man that he was in everyday life. While Loeffler's biography covers Abbey's entire life, the emphasis is on his life and work after he met Loeffler after the publication of Desert Solitaire until his death in 1988. Thus, this work is not simply a chronicle of Abbey's life as a writer and environmentalist, it is also the story of two friends who shared an unabiding love of nature and especially of the Southwestern desert. Perhaps, one of the best qualities of this book is the way Loeffler illustrates Abbey's view of the world, which shaped his evolution as a writer, through the retelling of conversations and debates that they had on their many trips into the deserts of the Southwest and Mexico. In this way Loeffler has performed a great service for anyone who desires to better understand the work, as well as the life, of Edward Abbey, by providing many intimate details that reveal the forces that influenced Abbey's perception of the world and his place in it. It is impossible to read Abbey's work and not be moved, sometimes by his sense of humor and satiric wit or by his stunningly beautiful descriptions of what many see only as a desolate wasteland. This book is a must for anyone who wants to travel, albeit vicariously, with Abbey and Loeffler along the dusty roads of their many expeditions and trips into the desert, which allows us all to get a small glimpse into Abbey's life, which allows us to better understand his purpose as a writer.
Rating: 
Summary: Abbey: environmentalist, bigot, and ignoramus
Review: Before reading this book I held a deep respect for Abbey's work and admired his beliefs and all of what he stood for. After reading it I realized many things: In the first place, the author's only merit is that he knew Abbey: the writing is terrible, as if written by a 12-year-old. Secondly, I don't believe for one second that all these conversations and "adventures with Ed" ever took place. Either Loeffler carried a tape recorder with him the whole time he was with Abbey, or he has a special gift for remembering every single prejudiced word that came out of Abbey's mouth. The topics and vocabulary recorded in these 'conversations' seem too staged to be actual conversations. It reads more like a fiction novel rather than a biographical portrait. The author rambles on and on about his own personal philosophy on life and the environment, not Abbey's. Personally, as a Professional and Academic Ecologist, it is uninformed people like Loeffler that give the conservation movement a bad name. He should go home and instead of drinking beer, read a little more about the affairs of the world for a change. What it all comes down to is that this is a poorly researched book of no literary or biographic value. But Loeffler's faults as a writer are not the highlight of this unreadable book. He also did a poor job of researching the facts. For example, in page 11 the author states that Abbey was born in "Home, Pennsylvania," when the actual birthplace is Indiana, Pennsylvania (read James Cahalan for a thoroughly researched biography). Loeffler also goes on and on about his knowledge and understanding of the multicultural Southwestern US, but makes a complete fool of himself when he tries to mix into his absurd prose misspelled Spanish names and words. Why didn't he hire an editor to check his spelling? He also claims to know the land like his backyard, but confuses the names of several geographic features. He needs to hire an editor for his next book and one of the kids from The National Geographic's Bee to check the facts for him. It is on account of sloth that he presents this ridiculous book: He could have saved part of the embarrassment by looking up the words he didn't know on a Spanish-English dictionary and bought himself a good guide and map to the Southwest. What this book does superbly well is to show how prejudiced and uninformed Abbey was regarding a variety of topics and cultures. According to this book, Abbey said of Mexico that all the natural resources of that country are "ruined" (p. 210). This is one of the biggest lies of all and the saddest part of it is that it comes from a man regarded in some circles as an intellectual, an educated man, a professor, a life-long resident of the Southwest. Abbey's statements and ideas regarding Mexico are prejudiced and lack any form of validation. It only shows that Abbey was a morose and neurotic character, too afraid of life to actually go outside and off the beaten track to rid himself of his ignorance about other cultures and environments. As an Ecologist and Academic, I know from scientific fact that Mexico's forests and other ecosystems are in better health in comparison to the US and many other nations, which is contrary to what Abbey supposedly stated. Unlike his beloved Southwest, most of the land in Mexico still maintains the original vegetation cover and the fourth highest biodiversity in the world. Obviously Abbey never even heard of Aldo Leopold, a man who had his facts straight and knew Mexico well. Present-day Mexico is a long way from even resembling the picture Abbey painted in his mind and then in his books. He went to Copper Canyon, but he never wandered off the trails, did he? The only thing this book proves is that Abbey was drunk most of the time he was outdoors, as Loeffler colorfully describes their "adventures." I am positive that Abbey did not see half of what he claims he saw when he visited Mexico. Abbey's words regarding this country and other issues sound like hearsay, alarmingly similar to any teenage account of a bad trip south of the border on a Spring Break. Loeffler and Abbey didn't have a clue regarding many things. It's a shame and a big disappointment. This "portrait of Abbey" exposes Abbey as a man who showed no regards for conservation of natural resources and other cultures. A proof of this is that he fathered five children, more than twice the average of some of the undeveloped nations that he so loudly despised. He shouldn't be all about contraceptives and "optimum human population." One should walk the talk before telling everyone else what to do. He was not worried about overpopulation. He was worried that people might catch up on the lie and realize he did exactly the opposite of what he said he did. This is denial, and he needed a shrink not a drink. In the end, I'm not sure there's any truth in this book, and I surely don't recommend it. In fact, I doubt these "adventures" existed at all. Both Loeffler and Abbey are hypocrites and liars. They both pass judgment on "fascist" governments when they believe they are better than the rest of us. That makes them fascist. Abbey being called the "Thoreau of the Southwest" is ludicrous. Abbey also claimed that he wrote "'to defend the honesty of man against the lies...to unfold the folded lie...to record the truth" (p. 155). When his best friend Loeffler published this book, he exposed him as the biggest hypocrite and liar. Loeffler should have let his buddy rest in peace. I would give it a 'Zero Stars' rating but the minimum is 1.
Rating:
Summary: A story told by one who knew him
Review: Jack Loeffler's chronicle of his life with Ed Abbey is not only a fine tribute to the iconoclastic defender of the desert Southwest, but an engaging and delightful tale of two friends and their travel's though life's adventures. Jack brings Ed to life in a way no chronological biography could ever approach. The images and stories in "Adventures with Ed" reveal the friendship and warmth that marked this long relationship and bring to light the lives of these two companeros. This one's a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: a wonderful eperience
Review: Reading Adventures with Ed by Jack Loeffler was a truly wonderful experience. Mr. Loeffler does well in combining the biographical with his own experiences with Ed. I was sad when I'd finished the book because the author presented such a beatiful friendship, one which transcended anything we can articulate, including mere physicality, and I wanted to read more, keep reading until I understood what they understood through such a tight friendship. At the same time that Mr. Loeffler presents Ed Abbey in a realistic light, including his faults of which some were publicly criticized, he counters such facts with his own truths, those he gained through nights and nights in the desert with his friend. He highlights several of these trips, and in doing so, gives us wonderful conversations of two intelligent, insightful men trying to figure out the world and the human animal--no easy task. If you are looking for a biography to futher your enjoyment of Abbey's work, you'll get that with Adventures with Ed, but thanks to Jack Loeffler, you'll get even more than that. You'll get a friendship so strong it extends past life and into death. If an afterlife exists, both Ed and Jack will be there (someday), driving their trucks and sharing beers over a campfire.
Rating:
Summary: The real Ed Abbey
Review: This book is a rare jewel for all readers of Abbey's books or for fans of the culture and history of the American Southwest. Jack Loeffler brings wit and humor to the writing to keep you turning the pages of Abbey's life. The detail and richness of this work makes it a compelling biography.
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Summary: Inside Abbey's Passion
Review: This is the book we've been waiting for. While Jim's (Cahalan) book _Ed Abbey...a life_ captures the most intimate timeframe of Abbey's life, Jack's book shares with us the passion that inspired Abbey to write. And, that passion has become a big part of our mantra for the American Desert Southwest. Only Jack Loeffler knew Abbey well enough to have written this book. Thanks Jack, and keep praying for that one perfect earthquake.
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